You are right in that conversion from analog sensor signals into digital messages in converter (I/O nodes) is how it is done today, and the past few decades. However, to me this is not the Internet of Things (IoT).

Personally I believe the Internet of Things means that every 'thing' is digital, intelligent, and networked. That is, the sensor (thing) itself has digital signal, is intelligent, and networked. A sensor with digital communication signal does not need a converter node. A sensor with an analog signal wired to a converter node does not provide the same capability as a sensor with embedded digital communication and intelligence. IoT to me is about digital communication from the very "first meter" all the way from the sensor. This way you can use digital communication to configure the sensor and to access sensor diagnostics from a centralized location.

"What I personally like about all these Internet of Things (IoT) discussions is that they all take for granted that all sensors will be digital, intelligent, and networked: wired or wireless."

Not so much "take for granted," but rather "is achievable, or has been achieved, in fact." Sensors will increasingly be designed with IP interface, I don't have much doubt on that. Otherwise, you buy or build appropriate interface cards, to convert whatever the sensor signals there are into a digital words or digital messages, and you build network nodes that house these interface cards. That's how it's done now.

What I personally like about all these Internet of Things (IoT) discussions is that they all take for granted that all sensors will be digital, intelligent, and networked: wired or wireless. Today we are shockingly far away from using digital signals from the sensors. In the process industry, most sensors use a pure analog 4-20 mA signal. Some smart sensors use an analog 4-20 mA signal for the real-time measurement and a superimposed slow digital signal similar to telephone "caller ID" for sensor configuration, calibration, and diagnostics. Pure real-time digital communication for sensors and actuators (fieldbus) is gaining ground among leading companies in the energy business such as Shell, BP, Chevron, Saudi Aramco, and Reliance etc. By digitally networking more sensors; bus or wireless, they are making their plants more productive, reliable, energy efficient, and safer. Learn more here:

What I personally like about all these Internet of Things (IoT) discussions is that they all take for granted that all sensors will be digital, intelligent, and networked: wired or wireless. Today we are shockingly far away from using digital signals from the sensors. In the process industry, most sensors use a pure analog 4-20 mA signal. Some smart sensors use an analog 4-20 mA signal for the real-time measurement and a superimposed slow digital signal similar to telephone "caller ID" for sensor configuration, calibration, and diagnostics. Pure real-time digital communication for sensors and actuators (fieldbus) is gaining ground among leading companies in the energy business such as Shell, BP, Chevron, Saudi Aramco, and Reliance etc. By digitally networking more sensors; bus or wireless, they are making their plants more productive, reliable, energy efficient, and safer. Learn more here:

Playing the devil's advocate here, and what if this was done deliberately to show how quick innovation with real impact on our daily lives can be achieved with modern IoT technologies?
PS. May be I am giving the government too much credit, but who knows...

@Doc D. I suspect the White House effort is less to spark an Arpanet like IoT and more to help the private sector get focused on the promise and problems of IoT. China, the EU and other regions are ramping their own initiatives in IoT so there's a but of techno-geo-politics here and just plain desire to push things forward.

Anyone know anything about China's IoT effort, based I am told in Wuxi?

Am I the only one who noticed that the deadline for these demonstration testbeds is April 2014? That's not very far out, especially when most companies have year end deadlines and priority commitments over the next couple months. Any IoT system that could make a good impression by next April had better be well along the development path already, or run the risk of being buggy or incomplete due to being rushed to meet some arbitrary government demonstration deadline.

If Uncle Sam thought the April 2014 date was that important, why couldn't he have made this announcement several months ago?